Merle Oberon secret life 1st #Asian Oscar Nominee #MerleOberon #Hollywood #bollywood

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#MerleOberon (19 February 1911 – 23 November 1979) was a British #Hollywood #actress who took to her grave that she was not white and the result of a rape by a colonial #army #officer.

Remains only #Asian #biracial actress nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress.
Born in Bombay, India in 1911 wanted people to believe she was from Australia born to white parents.

Claimed family moved to #India after father died in a hunting accident. Truth, uncovered after her death, was born Estelle Merle O’Brien Thompson under British #Colonial rule, result of the r*pe of her part-Sinhalese and part-Maori mother by a British officer at the age of around 12 or 15.

Merle was raised to believe grandmother Charlotte was her mother who was also of Anglo-Indian descent, had also been r*ped by a Colonial officer. Constance fell pregnant with Merle. Charlotte detested daughter chose to take on Merle as her own. Constance became estranged from the family, died without ever reconciling.

Lived in poverty but in teens began going to #Calcutta nightclubs with a fake #British #accent. UK companies started selling poisonous skin bleaching treatments "the whiter the skin the better" Merle believed dark skin would mean a life of poverty so she started using them.

In #1929 managed to reach London became a nightclub hostess, charged over £2,000 for a night in her company, worked as an extra in films.

Director #AlexanderKorda convinced her to choose a name to strip her of her origins.

Media continued to scrutinise origins, with slip-ups of her accent revealing Asian heritage. One critic wrote “ disturbing feature is her tendency to strongly orientalise her appearance.”

in #1935 , #LATimes printed Merle was #EuroAsian, she disputed this stating her eyes and fact lived in India were coincidences.

Hollywood couldn't accept she could not be #white . Face of #MaxFactor cosmetics, who proclaimed through use of products had gone from looking “exotic” to “beautiful.

In #1943 was in a car crash which disfigured her and use of #bleaching, so Ballard invented the Obie lighting system, named after her.

Died aged 68 of heart problems taking her secrets to her grave.

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